Delicate Hybrid Gift is a series of prototypes that employ ephemeral materials to wrap digital gifts. One example is the Gifting Table, a platform to exchange hybrid gifts that incorporate food as gift wrapping. The table uses camera vision to detect interaction with food items placed on its surface. To wrap the digital content, we used a spherified juice dessert, which forms a highly fragile film that encourages delicate handling. When a dessert is placed on the plate, the system identifies the color; when it breaks, it sends the corresponding digital gift (such as playing music) to the recipient.

A participant drawing a symbol of love with the dessert, suggesting a pattern as a key to unwrapping a gift.

2. FieldVenturer

FieldVenturer is a project experimenting with a long-range, remote-controlled, and collaboratively piloted vehicle. It centers on the design, development, and public deployment of a Rover: a small tracked vehicle equipped with sensors and a camera and an elaborate command center, through which it can be controlled by members of the public. Via a series of FieldVenturer events, we are beginning to explore how experiencing spaces through a “drone’s eye view” can play a part in promoting discussion around the reconfiguration and re-articulation of public spaces.

SchofieId, G. and Schofield, T. Exploring space with FieldVenturer. Proc. of Research Through Design 2017.

Currently, many projects embed smart LEDs—multiple LEDs dynamically controlled by computers—into clothes or accessories to support novel expressions or daily activities. However, most of them do not consider the “sparkle” of traditional jewelry. We propose a presentation technique for interactive jewelry called Sparklry, which can present sparkles on a jewel stone using internal LEDs. These sparkles are designed by integrating [1] a traditional jewel, (2) a light-shielding sheet with small slits, and (3) an LED array. We developed a prototype and several examples of jewelry to explore appropriate designs of slits and LED patterns.

Thinga.Me is an iPhone app that allows users to digitally collect the things they see in the real world. With Thinga.Me, users can take photographs of their items and then easily remove the background, before arranging them in stylized digital collections that can be shared with others. A range of different backgrounds are included in the app, allowing users to present their items in 2D or 3D displays. By giving users the illusion of carrying their items with them in their pocket, we were able to explore and better understand the difference between physical and digital collection practices.

Daniel Harrison, University College London and Microsoft Research Cambridge, Richard Banks, Microsoft Research Cambridge, Tim Regan, Microsoft Research Cambridge, Martin Grayson, Microsoft Research Cambridge

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